When you reach a certain age, you start to reflect on life.  What is, what was, and what could be.  Most people might feel regret and loss, but I feel hope, desire and eagerness to start over again.  To complete my journey with passion, vision and tenacity.  To start doing what I love, to follow my dreams and frame my vision.   Life isn’t over, it has only just begun.

And “what might that be?” you may ask. It is my love for fashion, style, and empowering women.  It is who I am and who I am meant to be.  In this post I am going to take you on a little journey with me and I hope you enjoy the read.

As I am sitting here, with a cup of coffee in my hands, I close my eyes and I think back to a time when I was a little girl.  A time I could not live with my parents due to “apartheid” and many other reasons, but also a time where my passion for fashion was formed.  I was privileged enough to live with the matriarch of our family, my “ouma” and on weekends and holidays I was able to visit my mom and dad.  

One holiday, I remember 

rummaging through my mom’s closet.  She had a niche for fashion, her style was exquisite, spectacular, sophisticated, with a hint of pure simplicity.  No colour was too bright, no heel was too high, and no style was too simple nor too grand.  She was courageous, passionate, fearless, a leader in her own right and unapologetically feminine.  Fashion came easy to her, it was in her blood, and she was iconic.

I remember sitting in front of her wardrobe, all her shoes laying around me, except a pair of red stilettos that I was lovingly holding in my hands.  I was in awe, I was content, I was happy, and the world I knew disappeared around me…My love for fashion was awakened.  I knew that this is what I was born to do.

I was inspired to love and respect fashion.  It might be difficult to explain style and fashion, but I knew the part I had to play in promoting fashion and style, the fleeting whisper of trends, the nostalgic feeling of a Little Black Dress, the distinctiveness of Coco Chanel and the cherished memories of my mom’s red heels.  I knew that I wanted to embody the spirit of Fashion.

And today, many years later, I am privileged and honoured to say that I am standing at that point again.  I took a detour, but I am here, and I’ve almost forgotten how to do this.  With the underlying feeling of wisdom and inner peace, I am putting in the time and effort and will do it justice.   With ease and grace, I will support and guide women to embody the refined, sophisticated, spectacular, and complex true form of Fashion and Style.  This is why I started Ampower by JL.  I want to empower the everyday woman, women like me, to express their authentic self and show the world who they are.

And with that I ask every woman.  “How can I help you?”

This post was written in loving memory of my iconic mom, the woman who conceived the passion for fashion in me. 

And a special thanks to my beautiful dad.  Thank you for loving mom and thank you for raising me to be the woman I am today.

Jenay Larson